where to fly fish in Idaho

[mtnschott]

Hello Everyone. I am looking for a bit of advise re: where to fly fish in Idaho.

I am ok with a fly rod, but not great. Three beginners and I are meeting in Boise, ID on the evening of Wednesday, August 20. We would like to fly fish somewhere within 2 to 4 hours of Boise on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We plan to hire either one or two guides.

At night, we plan to camp or could stay in a cabin somewhere.

Any recommendations on where to go? Which river(s)? Where to stay? We could also use suggestions regarding guides.

Thanks in advance for any help.


mtnschott
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[Kodiak1]

You might contact Sawtoothfishingguides.com in Stanley, Idaho. The scenery is like no other, the fishing is hot right now, and you can decide between the Salmon River, or numerous creeks and lakes. They could arrange housing in Stanley, I'm sure. I might suggest combining this with a Sun Valley- based day or two, if the famous Silver Creek is producing. A third suggestion would be the South Fork of the Boise. A float trip could be very productive for some lunker trout. You might even work in all three locations, since they are all in a line. You can make a loop from Boise to Stanley--two+hours, then an hour to Sun Valley, and then on to the South Fork.Or do the reverse. Fly shops in the Boise area could help you, for sure. The Riverkeeper Fly Shop in Boise advertises a connection with the Sawtooth guides. Perhaps they could help you. Good fishing. Mike
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[Westslopecutt]

I agree with the advice that Mike has provided in his response as far as potential resources for guided trips. From my perspective, you kind of need to decide between quality or quantity for a couple of the rivers he's mentioned. While I'm not going to argue the obvious benefits of hiring a guide and floating the S. Fork of the Boise below Anderson dam, there are also excellent opportunities for wade fishing the upper stretches of the S. Fork of the Boise near Featherville as well. The potential for catching much larger fish is definitely greater in the section below the dam, but you can easily catch 20-30 fish in a day while wading the upper portion. There's a section of river that is more or less designated for fly fishing beginning in the stretch of river just above Baumgartner campground. The nice thing is that it's easy to wade in wearing just shorts and sandals, and that experience in itself is worth the time and effort. There are also numerous primitive camping spots and campgrounds besides Baumgartner available along the river that would be a great place to stay at least one night.

I would also recommend not missing out on at least an opportunity to fish Silver Creek. Sure the fish can be extremely tough to catch in there at times, but it's consistent in terms of numbers and quality. I have also just recently fished the Big Wood River in that same area and the fishing in that river is excellent right now. Given it's relative proximity to Silver Creek, it can be an excellent choice as a back up plan in case the fish in Silver Creek aren't being very cooperative. Some advice I have for you if you do end up trying Silver Creek is to be persistent in your presentations. It can be very frustrating to see those fish feeding right in front of you and seemingly unwilling to take your fly, but if you keep casting to them, eventually one will take your offering. The other thing is to not overly commit to fishing the fly fishing only section in the Conservancy area, there are other portions of Silver Creek that offer public access and that can be equally as productive. Regardless of what you decide to end up doing, best of luck and enjoy your trip!
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